Animal Genetic Resources - International Livestock Research Institute - P.O.Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - E-mail: dagris@cgiar.org
General
Breed Information
General Breed Information
Species:
Cattle
Breed Name/Strain :
Brown Swiss
Common Name/Synonym:
Breed Group Name:
Commercial Composites
Subgroup Information:
Group Origin:
Commercial composites are breeds developed from selected indigenous breed combined with varying proportions of exotic blood. Sub-Saharan Africa is a home of least six commercial composite breeds: the Bonsmara (South Africa), Drakensberger (South Africa and Swaziland), Rentilo (Madagascar), Manjani Boina (Madagascar), Mpwapwa (Tanzania) and Wakwa (Cameroon). Unfortunately, only two of these commercial composite breed ( the Drakensberger and the Bonsmara) are secure in terms of numbers and existence of programmes for genetic improvement (Rege, 1999).
